Nannie

Originated in Britain as a pet form of Ann or Agnes, following the common phonetic shift of initial consonants in nursery speech. By the late nineteenth century, American record books accepted it as an independent given name. It thrived largely in rural counties before fading from birth certificates altogether.

Hearing the name today suggests a hand-stitched quilt or a front porch swing before electricity reached the county. Most people assume it is a grandmotherly title rather than the legal entry on a birth certificate. The average living bearer is around eighty years old. It has effectively ceased being handed out to newborns.